Explore the most popular no dogs trails in Banff National Park with hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers and nature lovers like you.

We did the 30km walk along the Ghost lakes/ Devils gap which is worth the difficult drive in across the Ghost river bed a road loop north to the berm in the middle and onto the washout river bed. I think most people will want find the parking area and walk across the river. Awesome and enjoyable walk.

This hike is AWESOME! It shouldn’t be this easy to bag an 11,000+ ft summit. I mean, it’s not “easy” but aside from the step, there is hardly any scrambling. The 360° views of the Lake Louise valley are simply breathtaking, views that are usually reserved for condors and light aircraft. But I’d strongly advise anyone to read Parks Canada’s brochure on hiking Mt Temple. Follow the route markers, stay on the trail and you’ll have a glorious day.

best hike in the Rockies! I've summited 3 times. the glacier lakes, beautiful meadow, and stunning view from 12000ft is unbeatable. plan for it usually 1st 3 weeks in august, has to be sunny. even if you're unable to summit because of weather you can usually get to sentinel pass, still a worthwhile hike

It's amazing, do it! But go prepare with the description for the scramble. We didn't know about it and met some folk at sentinel pass going up, so we tagged along. They didn't really know where they were going so we had to head back 1/3 of the way. I'll try it again next time, but I'll be the one with the direction!

I’ve hiked to this lake starting from the trailhead. It’s long, but varied with wonderful views. There is an alternate exit that leads to a rockwall and chimney, to a couple of stunning lakes that you can see in the distance when you hike in on the main trail. Definitely will be hiking this again.

Completed the scramble to the summit at the end of September. We were very lucky that not many were attempting the summit at this time of the year, as this scramble can get very busy. There are rock hazards so after the pass, a helmet is needed, especially when busy. While we did not use them, would recommend bringing crampons (or atleast spikes/cleats) as well as an ice axe as the final approach to the summit can have snow and ice all year round. While you need to have good fitness to reach the summit in a reasonable time, never anything more than easy and some moderate scrambling at the crux.

This was my absolute favorite hike ever. Honestly I struggle to find the words for how breathtaking the summit truly is.

Get to the parking lot early. I’m talking before 6 AM because it fills up extremely fast. The trailhead had quite a few people on it first thing in the morning but was thinned out by the time I reached The Valley of 10 Peaks. I passed quite a few people on my way to the summit. Many parties turned around after the initial pass for whatever reasons.

This summit is no joke. In the middle of August there was serious snow and ice for most of my ascent. Totally worth every breath.

Definitely the most difficult hike I've ever done, but well worth it! Near the top it gets pretty tiring, especially for someone like me who was at sea level a few days before my hike. I would highly recommend walking sticks, as the hike back down is pretty difficult without them (I learned the hard way). Don't miss this hike if you're in Banff! Also, one thing to note: the description for this trail says that it is dog friendly, which is true up until you get to sentinel pass. After that, there's no way you're getting a dog up the mountain. There isn't a we'll defined trail and you have to do a bit of rock climbing at certain points.

Truly incredible views at the top.. one of the hardest trails I've ever done! First 4km are pretty easy.. then it's a scramble and super steep to reach the summit.. a bit hard to follow the yellow ribbons and the cairns , some sections of climbing up boulders

The hardest hike I have done this year. Gentle start through Larch Valley, climb the switch backs to Sentinel Pass. Then the real climb begins, not too technical. the crux wasn't bad to get past. 11,000 feet at the summit and my legs felt it. Hard workout on the quads coming down. Views at the top were amazing even with the wildfire smoke in the area. Busy trail (probably 20-30 people at the summit on the day we climbed).

Larch Valley and Sentinel Pass are the perfect warm up before to start Mount Temple.Be ready for loose rocks! The crux is the most technical part but being two people is very helpful.The view at the summit is the best I had after spending 10 days hiking in the region. We made it in 8hours round trip (3:30 to the top) with two food breaks and tons of pictures break!

Long and constant climb but totally worth it! Always stick left when going up. Look for the yellow/red tape and cairns. My best advice, when you get to the chimney section take the tight one on the left instead of the blue/yellow alpine marker on the right. Poles and helmets will go a long way! Took us 10 hours round trip with close to an hour on the summit.

One of the harder scrambles, but the views are worth it. High traffic in the summer, so expect bottlenecks and be sure to bring a helmet as there can be some episodes of rockfall with so many boots on the scree. We always hike in late August, and there will still be snow coronices even this late in the season. Dress in layers, especially if you plan on spending a bit more time at the summit.

This trail will beat up on seasoned hikers. Starts with the Sentinel Pass trail, which is basically 2500 feet worth of switchbacks, then throws you straight up the mountain onto scree, a couple short climbing cruxes, and a challenging finish with several false summits. Coming from the northeast U.S. at about 700 feet elevation, the steep, strenuous hiking at 9k and 10k feet on this trail pretty much knocked me out. We had to turn back about an hour from the summit (with the summit in view!) because of an approaching storm. Will complete this summer!

My wife and I took this as a day hike from Skoki Lodge. There, the manager described it as an easy hike. I have to admit, it would have been easy, or at most moderate, if I didn't have bad knees, and my wife didn't have knee replacements.
We started in a rapidly melting 1/4" of snow from the night before. The hike across the rocks at the Wall of Jericho was easy for me, but a challenge for my wife, who had to pick her way very carefully. As we spotted beautiful Castilleja Lake below us, we also spotted a pretty, wooded trail beside it. We decided that we must have missed a trail junction, and had taken the wrong route - Wrong! We agreed to scamble/butt-slide down the rockslide to the other trail - about 1/3 mile. At the bottom, we set out on the nice trail, only to find that it soon ascended steeply and joined the higher trail we had left!!!! To make matters a little more worrisome, it started to snow - Thankfully, it didn't last, and it didn't accumulate (A group of "real" hikers who started with us, quickly outpaced us on their way to Merlin Ridge. They returned almost an hour after us (Odd considering our lengthy detour), and were turned back from the ridge by the same snow we hiked through - and through which we could clearly see the ridge).
After a brief snack, we continued on to a rock step about 4' high. Not a real strain for me, but it was tricky for my wife to figure out how to position herself to get up with fake knees. We then confronted the short, narrow ledge we had been told about. It wasn't too bad except that I have some issues with heights that mad the crossing interesting. A short hike then brought us to scenic Merlin Lake, surrounded by the Wall of Jericho and the Merlin Ridge. After lunch, we sought the green sign we had been told to find for a return via Merlin Meadows. It took only a few minutes to find the sign and trail cairns.
The trail was, as we had been warned, a sometimes steep, nearly continuous drop of 492', over about 2 miles to the meadows. After crossing a log footbridge, we found that the meadows were very boggy, and our boots were soon soaked. We spotted the white sign we had been told to look for on the other side and made our way to it.
The map we had been given indicated that Skoki Lodge was just past the meadow. In fact, the sign informed us it was another mile, and we discovered that it was a 210' climb! Thank goodness for the log bench overlooking the ravine, where we could rest, so that we weren't limping and so bedraggled looking after our adventure! Also, we got to see a very interesting woodland croquet set, with ramps to guide the balls over the very uneven ground. It gave us a good laugh that carried us back to the lodge.